U.S. F-16 fighter jet crashes in northern Japan

Nemuro
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A U.S. Air Force F-16 fighter jet has crashed in the waters off Hokkaido Island on Sunday morning, close to the town of Nemuro.

According to a spokeswoman for the Misawa Air Base, efforts are currently underway to rescue the pilot

The spokeswoman said that the F-16 jet took off from the U.S. air base in Aomori and crashed at about 11:30 Japan time (02:30 GMT) around 200 miles northeast of Hokkaido Island, and close to the town of Nemuro. Nemuro is 1,000 kilometres (620 miles) north of Tokyo.

Reading from a statement, she said, "One person, the pilot, was on board. Efforts are currently underway to retrieve the pilot."

"The aircraft was en route to North America when the incident occurred. The cause of the incident is unknown at this time."

A spokesman for the Japanese Coast Guard said, "The F-16 jet crashed some 470 nautical miles northeast of Nemuro. The pilot ejected and is now waiting for rescue at sea," adding that the coast guard's plane and ships were on the way to the accident site.